Today I offer you quotes about writing. If you're a writer, you might see yourself here. Or not.
1. Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. - E.L. Doctorow
2. And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. - Sylvia Plath
3. Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. - Mark Twain
4. The wastebasket is a writer's best friend. - Isaac Bashevis Singer
5. Easy reading is damn hard writing. - Nathaniel Hawthorne
6. The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it. - Jules Renard
7. If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster. - Isaac Asimov (note: I always thought this quote said six months, not minutes.)
8. Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. - Hannah Arendt
9. Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. - Gene Fowler
10. Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum. - Graycie Harmon
11. Every writer I know has trouble writing. - Joseph Heller
12. Writing is a struggle against silence. - Carlos Fuentes
13. I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension. -Norman Mailer
Lots of people play Thursday Thirteen. Read more about it here and check out the works of others who participate in this meme. Enjoy!
I've always loved the Gene Fowler quote. A couple here I haven't read before. Fun list. Happy T13!
ReplyDeleteGreat selection of writing quotes... and more true than not!
ReplyDeleteOh, all these are good. I like number 1. Happy TT!
ReplyDeleteI was almost ready to edit out the word damn in #3! Very might actually work there too. I often feel #6 and agree with #13. Writing IS hard and people think it's easier than it is for those of us who do it.
ReplyDeleteEvery writer has trouble writing. How true :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Thursday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/05/party-crashers-want-obama-to-apologize/
#1? Whoa...does that mean us bloggers also? Or are we exempted.
ReplyDeleteMy 13 is TV flashback, with Paul Lynde. Comedy responses HERE
Do hope you can find time to stop by for a visit.
#13 is interesting. I think he might have a point. Then again, I'm sure I could go on to find more tension somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteYou won't believe it. My capcha "word" is "tention." cue the Twilight Zone music.
No. 8 is where it is at. But they are all good. No. 13 has a great deal of truth in it too. Thank you. This is very encouraging, actually.
ReplyDeleteThose are terrific quotes! :)
ReplyDeleteLove numbers 6 and 13!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a writer, but I like #3.
ReplyDeleteGreat quotes. I think there is something there for everyone, even bloggers.
ReplyDeleteI love quotes! Number 9 is familiar.
ReplyDelete